The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 7,500 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, with materials, energy and technology stocks continuing to drag the market amid concerns about inflation and imminent monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the U.S. Fed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.30 points or 0.49 percent to 7,453.80, after hitting a low of 7,439.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 39.50 points or 0.51 percent to 7,748.80. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, OZ Minerals is losing more than 1 percent and BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent. Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are flat.
Oil stocks are weak. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.5 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Petroleum are down almost 1 percent each.
In the tech space, WiseTech Global is losing almost 4 percent, Block is slipping more than 4 percent, Appen is down 1.5 percent, Zip is declining more than 2 percent and Xero is sliding almost 3 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent and ANZ Banking is down more than 1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding more than 2 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.751 on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday, extending the significant downward move seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing another particularly steep drop.
After tumbling by 2.3 percent during trading on Tuesday, the Nasdaq plunged 315.35 points or 2.2 percent to 13,888.82. The S&P 500 also slumped 43.97 points or 1 percent to 4,481.15, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, falling 144.67 points or 0.4 percent to 34,496.51.
The major European markets also closed sharply lower on the day. Germany’s DAX tumbled 1.89 percent, France’s CAC 40 plunged 2.21 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended down 0.34 percent.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday, pushing the most active crude futures contracts to their lowest close in about three weeks, after data showed a larger than expected increase in crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down by $5.73 or about 5.6% at $96.23 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Trade Modestly Lower
2022-04-07 01:19:54
